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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. present — there
  3. mine — for digging
  4. capital — a city
  5. court — for sport
  6. deal — to handle
  7. capital — money
  8. stock — goods
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. present — a gift
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. court — of a king
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. present — the time now
  19. court — of law
  20. stock — shares
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. pitcher — in baseball

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com